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NPR profiles local author Julie Smith

NPR continues the love for New Orleans artists. Today Morning Edition did a profile of writer Julie Smith, author of two locally-based mystery series, winner of the Mystery Writers' of America's Edgar Award, and owner of one of the finest pads overlooking Frenchmen Street. The piece also revealed that Julie is suffering from a syndrome that's affected more than a few locals...Katrina Writer's Block:

The city's most horrific flaw came to light almost three years ago, during Hurricane Katrina, when it was revealed that billions of dollars spent building levees to protect the city were for naught. The storm devastated the city  and the author. Smith's last novel was published a week before the storm hit the city. She hasn't published a book since.

"I've had people say to me: 'I always read mysteries before I got to a city because that's how I learn what's really going on there,' " says Smith. "I feel like that's my job, to tell what's really going on here. And until I figure out what's really going on here, I'm not sure how to write."